PEORIA — About four years ago, when Steve Ashburn moved into his house on Barberry Court, he envisioned it as his final stop.

Now, with a baseball and softball complex likely to be built a few hundred feet from his backyard, he might be down to his final strike.

"If it's not moved, I'm selling," said Ashburn, who plans to retire next year from his job as a service consultant at Caterpillar Inc. "I think the city has betrayed the homeowners in this area.

"We're going to lose the reasons these people bought (houses) out here."

Ashburn said he believes the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex is incompatible with residential life in the Timberbrook subdivision, where he owns one of about 90 houses. The semi-rural area is located in Northwest Peoria, near The Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

Although supportive of the concept, Ashburn and some of his neighbors appear concerned about light, noise and traffic the 10-field complex might generate once it opens. That's set for 2015.

"It would probably affect this end of the neighborhood," said Chris Lagatta, a Caterpillar mechanical engineer who lives in the same cul-de-sac as Ashburn. "That's the risk of living in an area where it's undeveloped behind you. You never quite know what's going in."

Complex officials appear willing to allay those fears.

"If I had one of these going up next to me, I'd probably ask the same questions," said Dan Cunningham, who is to manage the new youth-sports facility. "It's perfectly understandable.

"We want to be good neighbors. We want this to be a shining star for the entire community, and it starts with them."

Controlled access, lighting

To that end, the site plan for the complex has been altered a bit.

A 125,000-square-foot-dome that is to house a year-round variety of indoor sports has been shifted from the northwest corner of the property to the northeast. That moves it farther from Ashburn's house and others that border the northerly extension of Orange Prairie Road.

The under-construction thoroughfare separates Timberbrook properties from the proposed complex, which is east of the subdivision. There appears to be no outlet from Timberbrook to Orange Prairie. The subdivision is accessible from Trigger Road, about a half-mile west.

Andy Paulson, the complex's project manager, said the closest center-field fence to Timberbrook is about 250 feet from the west side of Orange Prairie.

Games are to be scheduled during day or early-evening hours as much as possible, Paulson suggested. Most events are likely to be held between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when natural light is most prolonged. Artificial lighting is to be focused over narrow areas.

"Our intent is to have games end at a reasonable time," Paulson said. "We don't intend to be playing games all night long outside on those fields.

"The light standards will be a couple of hundred feet away from the property lines that are affected. There will be more light shining from streetlights on Orange Prairie Road than from our facility."

Paulson said the complex entrance is to be south of the Timberbrook houses, and most traffic to it will come from the south. He anticipates noise from the complex to be minimal.

"There are three people in the outfield of a baseball and softball game," Paulson said. "It's not like a football game, where you're going up and down the field with 22 people."

Ashburn appeared more concerned about potential cacophony from the complex's public-address systems.

"It's going to sound like a frigging used-car lot here," he said.

Land-use, zoning changes

Complex developers are to state their case in front of at least three public bodies, with the City Council holding final say. The first hearing is set for Jan. 15, in front of the Planning Commission. In February, the Zoning Commission is expected to consider the case.

A land-use and zoning change, from low-density residential and office to commercial and high-density residential, is being requested.

There also is room for about 4½ acres of commercial development on the southwest edge on the 50-acre property.

"It's one of those things where we intend to see what the market will ask to be there," Paulson said. "There are no current plans to develop that into anything today."

Previous plans indicated most of the area around Timberbrook could contain residential housing similar to that found in the suburban-style subdivision. According to Ashburn, that also was prognosticated for an unincorporated farm field just south of his property.

Ashburn and others said they girded themselves for additional houses being built around their relatively quiet neighborhood. They also anticipated the Orange Prairie Road extension.

They weren't necessarily expecting a facility that could attract 250,000 people annually from all over the country.

"I fully support the need. I think it's wonderful," said Marla Brady, Ashburn's housemate and fiancee. "But putting it here, when all of these people who bought here thought it was going to be residential .... what a shock."

Said Ashburn: "I love kids. I think they need a place like this. But this isn't to serve the kids of Peoria."

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.

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